Brown Motors brings Ford, Chrysler stores together

With a newly built showroom on U.S. 31 North, Petoskey's Brown Motors has moved its Chrysler franchise to a key local auto-sales corridor.

The company, owned by brothers Steve and Erik Brown, recently added a 4,600-square-foot showroom for Chrysler and Dodge vehicles to the dealership at 2170 N. U.S. 31 where it has sold Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles since 1996.

Service for Ford and Chrysler products is now handled in a single area.

Following the Chrysler-Dodge operations' Jan. 12 move from a separate dealership on M-119, Steve Brown noted that his company offers buyers of those vehicles a significantly more modern facility.

"That building was 40 years old," he said. "It was time for a change."

The new Chrysler showroom has space to display about six vehicles indoors, while the M-119 location had room for only three or four. And unlike the old Chrysler dealership, the U.S. 31 location's service department has space available for customers to promptly pull their vehicle inside upon arrival.

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Brown expects the move also will help his business save on building-operating expenses over time and allow for a "greener" operation.

The Brown family's business, established in 1898 by Steve's and Erik's grandfather, Ben, started out as a harness-making operation. It became a Dodge dealer in 1924, and started selling Chryslers in the mid-'70s and Ford products in the mid-'80s. The company now employs about 40 people.

Brown Motors' sales hours are 8 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. The service department is open 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. weekdays. Ford and Chrysler customers can now reach the dealership via a single phone number, 439-3673.